Mercury Sable
The Mercury Sable is a range of automobiles manufactured and marketed by the Mercury brand of Ford Motor Company. Introduced on December 26, 1985, as the replacement for the Mercury Marquis, the Sable marked the transition of the mid-sized Mercury product range to front-wheel drive.
Over its production span, the Sable was Mercury's badge-engineered counterpart to the Ford Taurus, below the Grand Marquis in the Mercury range. From the 1986 to 2005 model years, it was produced as a mid-sized, four-door sedan and five-door station wagon. For 2006, the Sable was replaced by the full-sized Montego and mid-sized Milan. It was reintroduced for 2008 as a full-sized car, offered as a four-door sedan.
Because of declining sales, the Sable was discontinued after the 2009 model year, leaving no Mercury counterpart for the sixth-generation Taurus. The final Sable was produced on May 21, 2009; in total, 2,112,374 Sables were produced during its 1985 to 2005 production run.
Background
In early 1980, the Mercury Sable began development alongside the Ford Taurus; the $3.5 billion project was the largest development ever undertaken by Ford at the time. Originally intended to replace its full- and mid-sized, rear-wheel drive product lines, the Taurus/Sable were focused toward the mid-sized segment in 1981, as the company felt stabilization of gasoline prices justified the continuation of its full-sized model lines. The Taurus was to replace the Ford LTD, while the Sable replaced the Mercury Marquis.While designed entirely in North America, the Taurus/Sable was designed under a similar approach as the Ford Escort, using an interdisciplinary team approach; each element of the vehicle was designed concurrently, including manufacturing and assembly. Along with input from potential buyers, Ford used reverse engineering of competitive vehicles as a design input tool.
During the development of the Sable, Mercury had become one of the final American brands to adopt front-wheel drive into its vehicle line. In 1982, as a sedan/station wagon version of the Chevrolet Citation, General Motors produced the quartet of the Chevrolet Celebrity/Pontiac 6000/Oldsmobile Cutlass/Buick Century; a year later, Chrysler expanded its K cars into the mid-sized segment with the first front-wheel-drive Chrysler New Yorker. Coinciding with the 1986 launch of the Sable, General Motors downsized Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac full-sized sedans to front-wheel drive, only slightly larger than the mid-sized Sable.
For 1983, Mercury underwent a brand revision, with the Cougar reverting to its traditional role as a two-door personal coupe alongside the Ford Thunderbird; while retaining the same chassis underpinnings, the Thunderbird and Cougar underwent a complete exterior redesign, becoming the first Ford cars produced with highly aerodynamic designs, a central objective of the Taurus/Sable design. The 1983 Cougar was well received in the marketplace ; Ford would choose to abandon "boxy" car designs altogether, influencing other car manufacturers to follow suit during the 1980s. Following the Thunderbird and Cougar, Ford introduced the 1984 Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz. The compact front-wheel drive replacements for the Ford Fairmont/Mercury Zephyr, the Tempo/Topaz marked the first use of aerodynamic body design by Ford for a sedan.
Release
In mid-1985, Ford unveiled the Mercury Sable alongside the Ford Taurus as a 1986 model. In place of a traditional auto show unveiling, the launch was held an MGM Studios soundstage. Ford workers came into the room, which was decorated in space-age decor, holding cups shaped like flying saucers and the Taurus and Sable were sitting behind a curtain. With the flashing of strobe lights and a drum-roll, the curtain was pulled back and the two cars were revealed to the public. Ford planned a sensual marketing campaign for the Sable featuring singer and entertainer Bette Midler. However, Midler turned down Ford's offer and refused to appear in the ads, so Ford utilized an impersonator of Midler as a substitute. Midler sued in response, leading to the memorable case Midler v. Ford Motor Co. which clarified whether impersonations could be considered an appropriation of identity.First generation (1986–1991)
Launched at the end of 1985 as a 1986 model, the Mercury Sable replaced the Mercury Marquis as the mid-size Mercury line, slotted between the Topaz and Grand Marquis/Colony Park. Developed alongside the Ford Taurus, the Sable was marketed alongside its Marquis predecessor for 1986, as Ford sought to protect its investment in the project.Though outsold by the Taurus by a wide margin, the Sable would prove successful on its own, competing with the Grand Marquis to serve as the highest-selling Mercury model line. The Sable was on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list on its release in 1986 and again in 1990 and 1991.
As Ford did not market the Mercury brand in Mexico, Ford of Mexico marketed the model line as the Ford Taurus. In South Korea, the Mercury Sable was marketed by Kia alongside the Kia Potentia as they assemble Kia Pride as Ford Festiva in export market.
Chassis specification
The first-generation Sable used the front-wheel drive Ford DN5 platform, sharing its wheelbase with the Ford Taurus. As with its Marquis predecessor, the Sable used unibody construction. The Sable was equipped with a four-wheel independent suspension. The front axle was fitted with MacPherson struts and a stabilizer bar; the rear axle on sedans was a coil-spring 4-link layout, while the rear suspension on station wagons was a coil-spring double-wishbone design, along with a stabilizer bar. As with the Marquis, the Sable was equipped with front disc brakes and rear drum brakes; station wagons were fitted with larger rear brakes.Powertrain
For 1986, the Sable was offered was with two engines: a 90 hp HSC I4 and a 140 hp Vulcan V6. Following poor sales of the four-cylinder engine in the Sable, the engine was dropped from the line for 1987; the powertrain combination would remain standard for the Taurus through 1991. For 1988, a 3.8 L Essex V6 was introduced as an optional engine. Though rated with the same 140 hp output as the 3.0 L Vulcan V6, the 3.8 L V6 was rated with nearly 35% more torque output.In contrast to the Taurus, the first-generation Sable was not offered with a manual transmission.
| Model | Engine | Year | Power | Torque | Transmission |
| GS | 2.5 L CFI HSC I4 | 1986 | 3-speed ATX automatic | ||
| GS | 3.0 L SFI Vulcan V6 | 1986–1991 | 4-speed AXOD automatic 4-speed AXOD-E automatic | ||
| LS | 3.0 L SFI Vulcan V6 | 1986–1991 | 4-speed AXOD automatic 4-speed AXOD-E automatic | ||
| GS | 3.8 L SFI Essex V6 | 1988–1991 | 4-speed AXOD automatic 4-speed AXOD-E automatic | ||
| LS | 3.8 L SFI Essex V6 | 1988–1991 | 4-speed AXOD automatic 4-speed AXOD-E automatic |
Body design
The first-generation Sable was offered in two body styles: a four-door sedan and a five-door station wagon. While its 1983–1986 Marquis predecessor shared nearly its entire body with its Ford LTD counterpart, the Sable sedan shared only its doors and roof stamping with the Taurus. In what would become a tradition for four model generations, the station wagon body for both model lines was derived from the Sable; the Taurus wagon was styled with its own front fascia.The Sable was also styled with a 6-window roofline, but borrowed design elements from the European Ford Scorpio liftback sedan, using blacked-out B, C, and D-pillars for a "floating roof" effect. Though two inches longer than the Taurus, the rear wheel openings were cut off at bumper height to visually add additional length. In what would be associated with the styling identity of Mercury for nearly a decade, the Sable introduced a low-wattage lightbar between its headlamps, later adopted by the Mercury Topaz, Tracer, and Villager. The lightbar feature largely emphasized the lack of a conventional grille. The Sable and the Taurus followed the configuration pioneered by the 1950s Citroën DS; the Ford Mustang SVO and Ford Sierra also lacked a conventional grille.
As with its Marquis predecessor, the Sable station wagon was designed with a rear liftback, but introduced a new configuration for the rear hatch, allowing the rear window glass to be opened separately from the rest of the rear hatch.
Alongside the Taurus, the Sable was the first American-produced sedan to use aerodynamic composite headlights with replaceable halogen bulbs; to begin their use, Ford lobbied the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to have them approved, with the 1984 Continental Mark VII becoming the first American car to use them.
While the Sable shared largely the same interior features as the Taurus, in a departure from tradition, the Sable was designed with a model-specific dashboard. Sable sedans were equipped with a 50/50 split bench seat as standard equipment ; as an option, front bucket seats were offered. The Sable wagon was offered with an optional rear-facing third-row seat, bringing seating to seven or eight; for the first time since the 1977 Cougar wagon, Mercury offered the design in its midsize station wagon.
During its production, the first-generation Sable underwent few changes. For 1989, the exterior underwent a mid-cycle revision; the amber parking lamp lenses were replaced by clear units and sedans saw revisions to taillamp lenses. For 1990, the Sable underwent a redesign of the dashboard to accommodate the addition of a driver-side airbag; a CD player was added as an option.